Smetana & Abing
in Comparison
Links between Smetana and Abing
Music is an extension of culture itself and therefore reflects whatever culture it represents. It will come to no surprise for composers to incorporate their own music culture to their composition. Biedrich Smetana and Abing are two composers that incorporated their own musical culture into their composition. Although composed as general music, in contrary to traditional music, both composers showed very distinct styles that were conceived from the incorporation of their own culture. In this case Smetana incorporated Czech folk music while Abing composed a concerto using Chinese melodies, scales and instrumentation. Smetana’s Die Moldau and Abing’s The Moon Reflected on the Second Springs may have come from different backgrounds but both have similarities in their compositions. Although Die Moldau was composed way before The Moon Reflected on the Second Springs, connection between the two can be made. The two musical links between the two are the melody and the texture of the music. The tone painting of the melody and the texture of both pieces are very similar and comparison can be drawn between the two of them.
"Die Moldau is very popular due to its reputation as easy to listen to classical piece and proves to be a popular repertoire for orchestras.
Die Moldau"
Biedrich Smetana’s Die Moldau is a part of a larger collection of composition titled Ma Vlast, which means My Country/Homeland. Smetana composed Die Moldau in during his trip to the river. This symphony is supposedly a representative of not just the river, but the countryside in Bohemia (present day Czech Republic). Although a part of Smetana’s collection of six symphonies, Die Moldau is almost always exclusively played alone, separate from the other five symphonies. Die Moldau is very popular due to its reputation as easy to listen to classical piece and proves to be a popular repertoire for orchestras.
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